Dwarves

Homeland
Dwarfs reside mainly in the hills and mountains of the "Old World" where they have their strongholds. Their empire once ran as a series of holds throughout the mountain ranges joined by tunnels. Since the peak some strongholds have fallen and the tunnel ways lost so the strongholds are more isolated. The loss of the holds has been attributed to Orcs and other Goblins or to the Skaven. There is a reputed "lost" hold in the Southlands and to the north the Dwarfs there in Norsca have become a little less civilized and more separate from the main - the largest hold there is Kraka Drak. Substantial numbers of Dwarfs have settled in the human nations of the Old World; particularly the Empire where their technical skills are appreciated and some serve in the Imperial armies.

History
Little is known about early dwarf history but dawi as they were known were probably assisted in their development by the mysterious and enigmatic Old Ones. It is said that the dwarfs were foretold of the great catastrophe that befell the Warhammer world by their patron god, Grungni.

After the catastrophe of the Coming of Chaos, the dwarfs emerged to find their world changed and warped. Mutated Beastmen roamed freely throughout the land, slaying everyone in their path. Warriors of the Chaos Gods murdered and pillaged at will, and Daemons created nightmare realms, enslaving entire tribes and peoples.

It was Grungni himself that forged the first weapons and armour, while teaching the dwarfs to do the same. Then after he forged the first magical runes, capturing the wild winds of magic and harnessing their power into them, creating even more potent weapons, axes and hammers, as well as runes that gave runic protection into armour and talismans. He armed the Ancestor God Grimnir with two axes and armour harder than the bones of mountains, and he and his first runesmiths armed the rest of the dwarfs to do battle.

Soon after their re-emergence the dwarfs first encountered the High Elves from Ulthuan. The two races had a period of prosperous development but a disastrous war known to the elves as the 'War of the Beard' and to the dwarfs as the 'War of Vengeance' almost completely destroyed the two races. The dwarfs now live in isolated strongholds of decreasing population and their once proud empire lies in tatters.

The War of Vengeance
The War of Vengeance, also known as the War of the Beard, was the cataclysmic war that took place between the dwarfs of the Old World and the elves of Ulthuan shortly after the great catastrophe. The war was started by Dark Elves, pretending to be High Elves, attacking dwarf colonies and trading parties. High King Gotrek Starbreaker demanded recompenses from the High Elves, but the arrogant Phoenix King Caledor II replied that if the High King wanted recompense he should come to Ulthuan and ask for them himself. Starbreaker, insulted by the implied suggestion that he should beg, sent his most skilled diplomats to demand double the original amount. The war received its nickname after the emissaries were returned minus their beards. To lose one's beard is the ultimate insult to a dwarf and thus the war was known as the War of the Beard to the elves while the dwarfs, not to take such things lightly, call it the War of Vengeance. The war culminated in the siege of the elf city of Tor Alessi, with High King Starbreaker killing the elfish Phoenix King Caledor and taking the Phoenix Crown as recompense, shattering the Elvin empire in the Old World and resulting in the elves eventual retreat to Ulthuan, safe for those who would become Wood Elves.

Physical Characteristics
Dwarfs are on average a good deal shorter than either men or elves of the Warhammer world making them ideally suited to the tunnels in which they live and work (the average dwarf being estimated to be at approximately 4'5"-5'0"). Their bodies seem purpose built for manual labour, solidly muscled, broad shouldered and large thick fingered hands that belie considerable manual dexterity. Dwarfs are a very long lived race with life-spans that can run into centuries. As a dwarf becomes older so his beard becomes longer and thicker. Since dwarfs have a deep inbuilt respect for age it would be unthinkable for a dwarf to cut off or even trim their beards. Like the Orcs, dwarfs appear to become stronger and stronger the older they get, but unlike the Orcs, there appears to be a "Breaking Point" where the dwarf's health declines rapidly, always happening just a few years before the dwarf dies of old age.

Female dwarfs are very rarely seen outside dwarf realms which has led many people to believe that dwarf males can have babies or that dwarf women have beards. However Games Workshop has released several models in the past depicting female dwarfs, such as Blood Bowl cheerleaders and Queen Helgar, which is still available from Mail Order. These models, like their male counterparts, are heavily built, armed and armoured; are muscular and grim, but instead of long beards have long hair wound into similar braids, worn beneath the helmet which they treasure as greatly as males do their beard.

Magic
Magic in its usual forms is distrusted, and even loathed, by a great many of the Dwarven population. The general consensus is that magic is too erratic and volatile to fool around with, let alone rely on in battle.

However, Dwarfs do place considerable emphasis on embedding magic within certain items e.g. axes, hammers, shields, and armour suits through Runesmithing. Aspiring Runesmiths will spend years and years as an apprentice to a Runelord who will gradually teach them to inscribe items with symbols that have great magical power.

The Anvil of Doom is used by only the most skilled Runelords to wreak devastating destruction upon any foe foolish enough to meet the Dwarfs in battle. Magical stones are placed upon the anvil and runic symbols are hammered into them which results in astonishing elemental power that can be directed against the Dwarfs’ foe.

Society
Dwarf society is mainly Monarchistic and organized into strongholds each governed by a king. The kings of each stronghold are largely independent but during times of trouble or war it is The High King who takes ultimate charge. The High King can often be seen at the forefront of the battle, fighting on the front line and leading by valiant example. Outside of strongholds dwarfs are organized into clans. Clans are like an extensive family group, all sharing common ancestry although mostly not directly related.

Language
The Khazalid is a deeply conservative language that has not changed noticeably in many thousands of years either in its spoken or written runic form. The Dwarfs are extremely proud of their tongue which they rarely speak in the company of other races, although the priesthood of Sigmar was taught the Khazalid language 2,500 years ago, as a gift from the dwarven king saved by Sigmar.

The Dwarf language includes very few words of obvious Elvin or Human origin. By contrast there are many loan words from Khazalid in the tongues of Men, which suggests that Dwarfs must have taught some fundamental words to their taller allies. This is most obviously the case of words to do with traditional Dwarfish craftskills of smithying and masonry, skills which Dwarfs taught Men many centuries ago.

The sound of Khazalid is entirely separate from human speech and even further from the melodious sounds of Elfish. It is guttural tongue; comparisons have been drawn to the rumbling of thunder. All dwarfs have deep, resonant voices and a tendency to speak more loudly than is strictly necessary. Khazalid vowel sounds in particular are uncompromisingly precise and heavily accented. Consonants are often spat aggressively or gargled at the back of the throat. Contrary to Men, whose dialect differs widely depending on Geographic location, the Dwarfs remain fairly consistent in dialect across the Dwarven Empire, although there are exception.

Gold Addiction and Grudges
For some unknown reasons, dwarfs have a strong attraction to gold. Dwarfs will seek to amass gold, even to the point of acting unreasonablly (such as refusing to abandon gold in order to save their lives). The exception to this refusal to leave gold is any gold that is going to be buried (such as by a cave in). As far as a dwarf is concerned, any gold that is "lost" underground is as easy to regain as a coin dropped in the street. This addiction is sometimes called "gold lust."

Dwarfs take their obsession with gold seriously, but they take grudges even more seriously. A dwarf is said to never forget a grudge. A dwarf will even end a life long friendship over a grudge of the "lightest" matter. To a dwarf, the source of the grudge (no matter how absurd) does not matter so much as that it is a grudge. Grudges can be ended amicably, though the stubborn nature of dwarfs makes compromises difficult and grudges must always be fulfilled. In the case of "lesser matters" gold can suffice to end a grudge. Felix Jaeger did end a grudge between Gotrek Gurnisson and Gotrek's childhood friend by taking the source of their grudge, a book of bad poetry, and ripping it in half, giving half to each (all the dwarfs present found this incredibly funny, which is probably the only reason they did not kill Felix on the spot or declare a grudge upon him). Killing a dwarf sparks a grudge that is similar to a vendetta, in that the grudge will transfer down the generations (both in the dwarf family and the family of the focus of the grudge) and it MUST be paid in blood. The only offense worse than killing a dwarf is damaging or destroying a dwarf's beard.

Dwarf Military

Warriors
Dwarf Warriors are drawn up from the citizenry of Dwarf society. Dwarfs are mostly craftsmen and artisans and there are few professional Dwarf soldiers but in times of war Dwarfs may be called up by their clan leaders who will organize them into regiments ready to fight. Dwarfs are physically strong, resilient and broad of shoulder enabling Dwarf armies to force march at great pace across hard country, a feat of endurance seldom seen in other races.

Longbeards
Longbeards are old and wise Dwarfs and are very experienced warriors, such is evidenced by his beard. A Longbeard's long beard grants them total respect from other Dwarfs. Longbeards are veterans of many wars and have endured far more hardships than most beardlings (young Dwarfs) can even imagine and as such they grumble about how everything is less scary or well made as it was in their day. Nothing can stop a Longbeard from a good grumble. Longbeards on the field of battle are very powerful and do not suffer distress about minor shifts in the battle situation which might panic a younger dwarf.

Ironbreakers
Dwarf Ironbreakers are the guardians of the lower deeps of dwarf holds, they are experienced tunnel fighters and often fight against Skaven and goblins attempting to tunnel into a Dwarf hold, without their efforts most dwarf holds would have almost certainly fallen to enemy attacks. Dwarf Ironbreakers are professional Dwarf soldiers in that they are perpetually under arms, due to their status as professional tunnel fighters they are armoured with the best dwarf armour available, gromril, which can protect a Dwarf from many a rock fall and enemy blade. Dwarf Ironbreakers also find themselves fighting battles on the surface and they form an armoured shield, a bulwark against enemy attacks, but for every battle they fight on the surface, they've faced dozens below the ground.

Hammerers
Dwarf Hammerers are a Dwarf king's personal body guard chosen by the King himself. The history of the Hammerers goes back to when a Dwarf king was visiting tunnelling works and there was a cave in, with all manner of foul creatures pouring in, the craftsmen there raised their heavy hammers they used for their work and they beat a path for the King to escape, ever since then the Hammerers have been a Dwarf King's personal guard. Hammerers are stubborn, even by Dwarf standards and are known for an unswerving loyalty to their lord, a loyalty solidified in the gift of the heavy warhammer from Lord to Hammerer.

Dwarf Thunderers and Quarrellers
Dwarf Quarrellers and Thunderers form the bulk of the missile contingent in a Dwarf Army. There was once a time when Dwarf powder weapons had not been invented and Dwarf Quarrellers reigned supreme with their crossbows. Over time, as the Dwarf Handgun came into common usage, the Crossbow lost its dominance. Nowadays, most Dwarf armies see a pretty even split of Quarrellers and Thunderers. Dwarfs are naturally methodical and slow to panic; and so are suited to reloading and firing both weapons calmly, even when the enemy is right on top of them. The competition between various engineers is such that in the efforts to make increasingly better and more reliable weapons Dwarf Handguns have become the most effective weapons of their type in the world. Most Thunderers have crafted their own weapons and over the years add many augmentations and improvements; and are as a result very proud of their weapons. Despite this, many Dwarfs stick to the good old and reliable crossbow as they begrudge the cost of powder and a bit of brute force will propel a bolt as far as a bullet. There have even been known instances of dwarfs improving their crossbows, though of course this is strictly prohibited without the engineers' guild's knowledge and permission.

Slayers
A notable aspect to Dwarf culture is the Slayer Oath. A Dwarf who has suffered a great shame, loss, or humiliation will dye his hair and beard orange, and cut it into a Mohawk using pig grease to stick it in place. Before taking up his axe, they will get a blue tattoo on his face and over certain parts of his body. He will then go out into the world, seeking out an honourable death in combat, and in doing so undo his dishonour. Those who continue to survive their repeated attempts to get themselves killed (a Dwarf is psychologically incapable of either suicide or fighting to lose) become fearsome warriors. One of the most (or least, depending on your point of view) successful Slayers of all time is Gotrek Gurnisson, a Slayer made famous by the books written about him by his long-time companion Felix Jaeger. Due to constantly searching for their doom, natural selection ensures that (living) Slayers are far more skilled than the average warrior.

Beliefs and mythology
Dwarfs venerate their ancestors and their deities are the "Ancestor Gods" which are said to have been formed from the very stone of the world itself. There are three main ones: Valaya, Grungni, and Grimnir.

Grungni is the patron of the forge and miners, and is depicted as the wisest of the Ancestor Gods, typically taking place as the "head" of the gods. In the game the Master Rune of Grugni protects Dwarfs by giving them a magical kind of shield to protect them from enemy missile attack.
Valaya is the patron of Runesmiths. It is said she is sleeping deep within the mountains until a time when she is needed again. In the Game the Master Rune of Valaya protects Dwarfs from enemy magical assault.
Grimnir was a great warrior with two rune axes. He helped the High Elves defeat Chaos at the northern Chaos Gates and although no evidence of his fate exists, it is assumed that he died there, or perhaps some far more sinister fate befell him. Of his weapons, one axe is now held by Thorgrim Grudgebearer and the other axe was taken with him to battle the chaos forces of the northern gate in the first chaos invasion. Some believe the second axe is the weapon wielded by the Slayer Gotrek Gurnisson.